am writing to you to urge you to help pass and ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Since the United States has been a country, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) has not become a part of the United States Constitution. The Equal Rights Amendment is an amendment that promotes gender equality in the United States constitution. It states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” (www.equalrightsamendment.org)

The ERA was first written in 1923 by suffragist leader and founder of the National Women’s Party (NWP), Alice Paul. After the 19th Amendment, was passed and ratified to the United States Constitution giving women the right to vote, Paul and the NWP thought the ERA was the next necessary step in guaranteeing constitutional equality for all citizens. From 1923 and to the present today, the ERA was introduced at every session of the United States Congress. In 1972 it was passed by the United States federal government, however when the ERA was sent to the states for ratification it only passed by 35 of the 38 states, leaving the ERA three votes short for ratification by the time the seven year time limit in proposing the ERA was over.

The fourteenth amendment of the United States Constitution grants citizens due process, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (United States Constitution) However, at the time this amendment was written, it was not meant to include women. The amendment was passed to ensure the rights of African-American men. The fourteenth amendment on occasion has been interpreted to include women of any race or ethnic background; and it still does not give women any guarantee for gender equality. While the nineteenth amendment of the constitution protects women’s right to vote, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex,” there is nowhere in the United States Constitution enforcing women’s rights to due process.

Throughout United States history, women have faced sexist discrimination. For years women could not vote, hold property, work outside the home, and were considered the property of their husbands and fathers. Eventually protective laws were established that gave women more rights which enabled them to vote, work outside the home, hold property, and not be considered property of men. However, even with protective laws, women in the twenty-first century, still face discrimination from men and society; in the work place they face a glass ceiling, women are often subjected to violence, women face sexism in classrooms, women face disparities in health care, women with disabilities get ignored and stigmatized even more than men with disabilities, and women are still not paid equally to men.

While there are laws on the books protecting women’s rights, the truth of the matter is that the laws of women’s rights in the United States are not enough to promote gender equality. The reason is because the laws do not rest upon a strong constitutional foundation, leaving them vulnerable to be repealed by the courts and the legislature. However, the ERA would give women, not only constitutional equality, but would enforce and protect women’s rights laws.

The United States government on the federal and state level needs to pass the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. By ratifying the ERA, the government would not only be improving the lives of women and girls in the United States, but in addition the government will be giving women full constitutional protection of their civil rights and it would make it harder to society to discriminate against women.

While women in the United States have come a long way over the past two hundred years, even in the twenty first century they still continue to face gender discrimination. According to the National Organization of Women, women still continue to face barriers and discrimination in the following ways;

• In education, women and girls with disabilities get ignored and do not receive as much help as boys with disabilities. While Title IX has reduced gender discrimination in educational programs, women and girls still face disadvantages. For instance a girl’s high school track team may be disqualified because of the shorts they wore like at Gulliver Academy in Florida, or being kept out of military academics like the Virginia Military Institute.

• In employment, women face gender discrimination and a glass ceiling. Women have been kept out of male dominated professions and only receive women only make seventy-five cents for every dollar men make. Women face poverty much more than men do.

• In health care, women face higher premiums than men for the same health care benefits, or they have to pay the same amount as men for less health care protections and benefits, reducing their take home pay.

• For Pensions, women are half as likely as men to receive a pension and the women who do receive a pension receive only half as much.

• For social security benefits, married men will receive 100% of lifetime benefits. However, since homemakers’ contributions to marriage partnerships are not fully valued, wives are then considered to be dependents and as a result receive lower payments. A widow will only receive 72% of their deceased husband’s benefits, while divorced women only receive half.

To deny women their civil rights in this way is wrong and immoral. The fact that women and girls are still even facing sexual discrimination in this way shows that the female gender in the U.S. has not come as far as they’ve needed to. It shows that the laws we have regarding women’s rights need to be stronger and given a constitutional backbone.

While there are laws in the U.S. Code promoting women’s rights, the fact of the matter is that prohibitions against sex discrimination are not as strongly enforceable as prohibitions against racial discrimination. Unfortunately, there are many loopholes to federal and state laws and regulations when it comes to gender equality which have been inconsistently interpreted and ignored.

The bottom line is without the ERA giving a constitutional backbone to gender equality the political and judicial victories that women have achieved over the past two hundred years remain vulnerable to be reversed. Women’s rights laws could be easily weaken by a legal amendment or even repealed by lawmakers. As a result, women would no longer have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion, Title VII and Title IX could be reversed, along with other reversals.

At the state level, with the exception of the fourteenth’s amendment Equal Protection Clause, the protections of women’s rights could be wiped away by Congress with a simple majority vote. In addition women’s rights the protections can be wiped by totally undemocratic administrative actions taken by the executive branch, and courts can rule in ways that would overturn long-standing tradition and precedent regarding women’s rights laws.

America is a country that was founded on due process, however, too often women and minorities are excluded. Women and girls deserve the opportunity to be equal and experience the same privileges as men and boys, and to feel proud that they are women. For society to deny women their full civil rights is wrong and immoral. Women represent half the population and are entitled to the same civil rights and equal opportunity as men do. The fact is without equal treatment and opportunity for women they will not only not receive equal opportunities to reach their full potential, but they will not only suffer from emotional hardship that hurts ones self-esteem and self worth, but they won’t be able to have the same opportunities education and in the workplace. However, with the ERA women would be guaranteed full constitutional protection to their rights so women’s rights laws couldn’t be repealed, it would give women full equality and would make it harder for people to discriminate against women.

At the moment, the United States has the chance to enforce gender equality including it in the U.S. Constitution and to improve the lives of women and girls in the U.S. by adding the ERA to the constitution. Women and girls would be guaranteed full equal opportunity and privileges and discrimination towards women and girls would decrease. Even if gender discrimination occurs under the ERA, the courts would have a strong foundation that enforces gender equality and lawmakers wouldn’t be able to repeal women’s rights laws.

In court practices, the constitutionality of the ERA would clarify the law for the lower courts when it comes to sexual discrimination cases and would influence legal cases for women in a positive way. Also in gender discrimination cases the burden would be shifted away from the ones fighting discrimination and place it on the people who discriminate, forcing the discriminators to justify why discrimination should be allowed rather than having a woman explain why women deserve equality. In addition lawmakers would be unable to repeal the existing laws that give women their civil rights.

The ERA by any means would not discriminate women over men. Instead, it promotes equality for both genders. In fact, with a constitutional amendment guaranteeing gender equality men would also be protected in cases of reverse gender discrimination.

Overall, the ERA would give women full constitutional protection to their rights so women’s rights laws couldn’t be repealed in the courts and in the legislature, it would give women full equality and would make it harder for society to discriminate against women.

The United States government needs to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. Therefore, I ask that the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate sponsored this legislation and please vote yes when this bill comes before committee and the floor. Also I ask that President Obama sign it into law and send it to the states for ratification.

Sincerely,

PLEASE sign this VERY important petition and then follow up with emails, snail mails and phone calls. If not now then when?

Saturday December 4, 2010, 7:38 am
Good question Carole and I asked that myself. In the 70's we came within 2 states of approval for this amendment, against some of the most odious batch of lies by the republicans. One amendment for all citizens to have civil rights - does it really need debate or research or further study?

Saturday December 4, 2010, 8:29 am
The ERA by any means would not discriminate women over men. Instead, it promotes equality for both genders. In fact, with a constitutional amendment guaranteeing gender equality men would also be protected in cases of reverse gender discrimination.

I think that defines equality fairly well, and in doing so also goes far to establish that equality is not a gift from Congress but a right of all citizens.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 8:37 am
Thanks, my friend, It says I already signed the petition. I truly hope that this petition is taken seriously in Congress. After all the Constitution was meant for all of us, not the chosen ones that some people think they have a right to exclude their rights. Good petition and lets get more signatures on it. I'll send it to all my friends with the hope they will send it to all their friends. This is an important step and we all should participate in it. Thanks, Kit, for all your work on this most important set of issues.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 9:19 am
Noted, signed (#948), and forwarded, thanks Kit. Right, Jeannette..Thomas Jefferson first used the phrase "All men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence....and we know this was interpreted as "All WHITE men....".

Ah, it's been so long since the days of Gloria Stienem. The newly elected will not go for this. It might threaten their lives in some way. How? I don't know. but, you can bet the farm, they'll block this too, just like in the past.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 10:35 am
Thanks Kit.. There lies the truth. Those who fall into the state of oppression become the robot, slave, of the top 2%.. If one gives up their free will, the ability to think for themselves, they have lost the most precious gift of all.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 11:05 am
Thank you Kit for the post and Just C. for forwarding. I have thought about the ERA many times over the years when it was in the forefront among issues of concern to the American left. In fact I was thinking recently, "Whatever happened to the ERA?" Honestly, I've never understood why any fair and reasonable American would be opposed to something called the ERA.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 11:09 am
It occurred to me whilst ruminating on the subject of gender specific terminology and the misuse of the originally gender neutral words such as man when used in the context of mankind meaning the human race or chairman meaning the person who regulates a committee, whether male or female! I'm sure there are other examples. However at what point I wonder would the extreme right wing or even the average bigoted Republican employer consider it their right to reduce the wages of a transgender individual who had been reassigned to female from male. Of course if there was true equality this question would be hypothetical. Maybe the answer is they would be so stupid and bigoted as to not recognise the reality! Religion of course has a lot to do with this by referring to a non gendered god as he and by extrapolation the claim that man was made in gods image of gives a certain legitimacy to inequality by misuse of the gender taxonomy and etymology of common English! Cleraly if anyone doea the same job they get the same pay for it regardless of gender, race, religion, disability or anything else irrelivant

Saturday December 4, 2010, 11:09 am
I signed and always will. I want you to know that on November 17, 2010 all republicans voted NAY on
S. 3772 Paycheck Fairness Act. . The republicans still think women should not earn as decent a wage as a man. This bill affects women that work in hospitals, stores, restaurants and any backbreaking job you can't get any one else to do. This is already a hostile environment for everyone and the republicans are just getting started. We have to stick together. Thanks for the forward Caitlin

Saturday December 4, 2010, 11:15 am
Kit, in case no one has noticed I never use "mankind" as a word of reference. I use words like humankind, humanity, human and non-human but never "mankind." To be sure laws that affect equality and one's quality of life are more important than semantics but one's choice of vocabulary does tend to reflect a belief in equality or the lack of that belief.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 11:25 am
Signed all the petitions and all delivered. Under our constitutional Republic gender equality, as well as gay rights, has always been protected under the Declaration of Independence and the Ninth Amendment, commanding: "The enumertion in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." All natural rights are inalienable and thus are safeguarded against a fascist majority of citizens ready to usurp their avowed God's role and sit in judgment on others all in the name of follownng the dictates of the Bible as the inspired word of God. Judges have been guilty of this also. But via the awesome leadership of the likes of Kit, Caitlin, Jae and others women and the gay citizens of our society just might finally start enjoying their rights.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 11:36 am
Signed and noted. I remember all too clearly in my early years of banking that when I wanted to become a loan officer it was impossible. Women then were only allowed to train as loan secretaries. We've come a long way, baby, but not nearly far enough. It is time for every single human being to have the same rights. No more elites, no more "chosen", no more I'm better than you mentality.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 11:42 am
Noted and signed... will common sense ever be the norm or will we always be fighting for the rights that should be an integral part of our society by now? We have issues like our environment and the care of wildlife and poverty to be concerned about but we are forced to take time away to make this a priority. Shame on those who make equality an issue in this day and age... it should be a foregone conclusion.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 12:06 pm
We are days from it being 2011 and we are still trying to get an equal rights bill passed and there are still those who want to 'disguess it' ...one would think in any civilized nation they would instead be going..."what the heck, how was this over looked for so many decades" ,then pass it ...without one single objection or 'no'. It is digusting and shameful for a modern society to have to put equal rights or any rights of one group of our populous on the voting block. It should have been that way decades ago. What part is it that some people,politicians included, that don't understand the words ...Divided We Fall. It means more than just in war time.........that is the rule every day of our existence ...

Saturday December 4, 2010, 12:23 pm
I just become the 1 over the 1,000 needed signatures. Alice Paul is my hero, in fact I have her listed on my profile page as being so. I remember back in 1972 we came so close to it being passed and I thought for sure it was to be. In my 19 year old mind I thought, this is so ridiculous at this time and age that the Country should surely see it was the right thing to do....EQUAL RIGHTS. But no, it didn't pass, and I really felt as a female, that I had been given a slap in the face. A loud statement, that just because you were born a woman, YOU, are NOT equal. It was a bitter pill I've never forgotten.

It is in spite of this Society that women have done what they have, but they have had to claw their way into each new territory. The first woman Police Officer, the first woman FireFighter, and at each step, those brave women, who only wanted to do a job had to fight to obtain those jobs, then were made fun of, taunted, and out right attacked for their holding those jobs. It has not been an easy road, for women in that respect. I still know too many people that think a woman should remain in a certain mold and not step out of it.

1923 Alice Paul wrote this, and here we are almost 100 years later still trying to get half of our population to be considered equal. Is very sad when you look around at how much women have contributed and still do contribute to this Country, that women still can't have an ERA passed. We therefore see our struggle, we need to always remind ourselves that when women who are even more oppressed in other Countries are still fighting for even the very basic of rights.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 12:27 pm
Signed. Never could figure out why it wasn't passed years ago. Any arguments against it are over my head. If you believe in something, what isthe hesitancy ,whatever, in having it in print? and Carole- think I can commandeer a star for John.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 1:10 pm
signed and noted. I would be out of luck if women were not allowed to own property as my father has passed and I am a divorced widow and my brother has also passed, my mother is in the same boat. Glad we still live in a country that allows women to have property. Otherwise we would really be in a pickle having to rely on the male of the species for everything we,I currently am used to but do not take for granted.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 1:47 pm
Equal Rights for all - I never could understand how anyone would object to such a perfectly simple and fair idea. I remember in the 70's, like Dandelion, the 'firsts' of women. I was an adamant supporter of equal rights then too & took on some very narrow minded men who didn't like women in the workforce, "taking their jobs." Often, they would make fun or try to intimidate me into silence, but I would not back down. Still, I will NOT back down. I firmly believe in 'Equality and Justice for ALL'. I can't send stars to many of you who consistently show their honest 'humane' side, but this is an important cause that continues to get swept under the rug. I thank ALL of you for the petitions and your dedication to promote the causes on Care2. Stars to ALL

Saturday December 4, 2010, 2:46 pm
Noted and Signed~ #1,080. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. As John said,

"I hate to admit it, but I thought the ERA had been passed long ago. I'm horrified to find that it wasn't."
I appreciate your complete honesty. The fact I am a woman age 55 brings to to my kness with shame of my ignorance.

I have read so many wonderful posts. I will forward to all I know.
BTW Michela~ my offer is on the table if you ever change your views:)

*C*~ I sent a star to John G~ because of your comment. I sent an intro explaining it is half from me and half from you:). BTW John, I call Carole PASSIONATE WARRIOR!

Saturday December 4, 2010, 3:14 pm
Let's keep this petition in the limelight. It will face some stiff opposition next congress, the more signatures, the better. If you haven't yet passed it on to all your friends, now is your chance. This action is so many decades overdue and if we want anything done on it, we will have to take up the reins and do it for ourselves. Thanks, Kit for bringing this to our attention. Let's just keep it going.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 3:23 pm
Noted, and signed #1113...I was always told when I was a kid, No one is better than you are, and your no better than anyone else, So I totally believe in equal rights for everyone...Too bad, a lot of people don't feel the same way...

Saturday December 4, 2010, 3:35 pm
How POPULAR would it be to REQUIRE everyone that is going to hold public office to provide their ACADEMIC SCORES so we can see how QUALIFIED THEY ARE TO RUN "OUR BUSINESS" ??
I'm really tired of the "Ken Doll" look....I want some INTELLIGENCE in the equation, not a used car lot ego trip.
How do you feel about this for all elections from now on...and I don't include "honorary" degrees, either.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 3:40 pm
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 7:
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination...
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

Saturday December 4, 2010, 3:54 pm
Gender Equality; best Countries for women.
(I couldn't find any newer than this from Forbes, 2008)
Norway, Finland and Sweden are ranked the best countries for gender equality, according to a recent study from the World Economic Forum, the nonprofit organization known for its annual economic summit in Davos, Switzerland, for global leaders. Those Nordic countries and their Western European neighbors account for 16 of the top 30 countries with the greatest gender parity in the world.
Meanwhile, the U.S. ranked surprisingly low at No. 27, behind Lesotho (No. 16), Mozambique (No. 18) and Moldova (No. 20). Not surprisingly, the worst-ranked countries were sprinkled throughout the Middle East and Asia. Garden spots like Chad (129th), Saudi Arabia (128th) and Pakistan (127th) populated the bottom of the list. Yemen ranked absolutely worst at No.130...
http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/11/best-countries-women-lead-cx_mk_1112gender.html?feed=rss_popstories

Saturday December 4, 2010, 5:58 pm
It is amazing that so many men feel so threatened by women's equality that the ERA has not yet been ratified. Signed (#1146), noted and shared. Thanks, Kit, and thanks to Caitlin and Barbara K. for forwarding this.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 6:35 pm
I just signed my retirement papers and I can't help but think about how much more my pension would have been if the ERA has passed 30 years ago. I'll bet it's 27 - 35% less than my male peers. Not to mention the promotions they rec'd because "they had a family to support" (like I didn't!!!). The equal wage disparities still exist. I hope the young women continue the struggle for equal rights and equal pay for equal work.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 6:45 pm
Signed again and again. I remember when the officials at the Boston Marathon joined hands to stop a woman from crossing the finnish line. Why? Because it was impossible for a woman to run in a marathon.lol

Saturday December 4, 2010, 7:30 pm
Wow! Thank you all for the response. Let's do try and keep this going, and please follow up with letters and phone calls. Given a chance our "in coming" Congress will toss this on the back burner, and left there to languish again. In the 70's one of the biggest oppositions to the ERA was that it would require women to serve as combat troops - that's an argument that no longer has meaning.

I was very young back then, I believed this would pass it was so important to so many of us. Now as then it seems over due, and yet we still have those who oppose this. I wish I could understand why people oppose the right for all beings to be treated fairly as equals, I do not. Honestly, I really don't understand the women in opposition to the ERA. Again I thank you for the wonderful response and again ask you to keep this moving and adding signatures. Please remember that phone calls and letters will keep this the minds and awareness of Congress.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 10:40 pm
I remember when when we first tried to pass the ERA. Conservatives tried to scare everybody with the prospect of unisex bathrooms, drafting women for military combat, and the general decline of the American family. It was going to be the end of civilization. Unfortunately, the Republicans haven't gotten any smarter in the last couple of decades. If anything, they seem to have de-evolved. They're so afraid of the idea of evolution, they seem to have begun to turn back toward ape-hood.

Saturday December 4, 2010, 10:52 pm
Thanks so much for posting this. I must be naive because I thought that the ERA had already been passed!! I guess I can be a hopeless optomist or idealist sometimes. All the best of luck in passing this important legislation.

Sunday December 5, 2010, 10:37 am
I am litterally LMAO Margaret! Thank you SWEETIE!!! You can become a Californian tomorrow! Just don't become an Arizonian because THEY THINK ALL ARE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS!

Sunday December 5, 2010, 11:17 am
Maybe the reason it hasn't passed is that it is felt not needed due to the rights guaranteed to all "persons" amendment? (Can't even rmember what that number was and I just read it! :P ) Even though the amendment was written pertaining to men, the wording for "men" isn't in the amendment, and it does state all "persons" , so women are included in that amendment. Of course, I signed this petition!!! Just trying to see the "other side of the coin". I really feel there are a lot of men who will never understand the importance of women being granted a gender specific amendment. And those are the very ones who keep refusing to pass this amendment and the ones who keep the entire country from progressing into the great country it could and should be. Thanks for the heads up on the petition.

Sunday December 5, 2010, 1:02 pm
I don't think in this country we would have moved beyond this basic right, because we are country filled with bigotry and suspicions. If one is born a white male, things do tend to come much easier. Recently Obama was able to get passed and sign into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act - to help guarantee fair pay, though the bill contained very light language. If we had this amendment then all the other bills would not be needed.

Sunday December 5, 2010, 3:23 pm
Thanks a lot for posting this very important petition Kit and Susanne D. for forwarding it :) Noted, but not allowed to sign as European citizen :( i'm very happy to see how many of you already took action though ;)

Sunday December 5, 2010, 7:22 pm
You're darn toot'n I signed and noted this! Women will not get equal pay or cement equal rights to make our own decissions for our bodies until we are concidered equal under the law of the land. We pay more for health insurance, more for clothing and shoes, are often heads of households with little hope of support from the father of the children and are often financially crippled by income equality. Since it is obvious that our equal rights are not protected by the current Constitution amendment, we need language in another Amendment that is specific. Thanks, Kit!

Sunday December 5, 2010, 7:30 pm
Support the Equal Rights Amendment.
Noted and Signed my Beloved Miss Kitty. Thank You so much for posting and sharing with Us, especially Women.
HAVE A VERY BLESSED SUNDAY NIGHT EVERYBODY!
Much Love and Light,
B.D♥

Sunday December 5, 2010, 7:54 pm
I'd also like to see passage of the ERA.

But the author of this article makes certain misleading statements.

"For social security benefits, married men will receive 100% of lifetime benefits. However, since homemakers’ contributions to marriage partnerships are not fully valued, wives are then considered to be dependents and as a result receive lower payments. A widow will only receive 72% of their deceased husband’s benefits, while divorced women only receive half."

Social Security doesn't discriminate by sex. The rules apply equally to widows and widowers, men who are divorced and women who are divorced.

"For Pensions, women are half as likely as men to receive a pension and the women who do receive a pension receive only half as much."

That makes it sound as though all women who get a pension get half the pension that a man in the same job in the same company under the same circumstances would get. Which isn't true, of course.

And quite a few others.

The ERA can stand on its own merits. It doesn't need untrue or unreasonable arguments made on its behalf.

Wednesday February 16, 2011, 9:21 am
Signed a couple of months ago. 8,167 signatures; There you are:
15 MILLION CARE2 MEMBERS DOING GOOD...??? (Tell me about it!)
Here You can check out about ten thousand so called members called "Robert", "Roberta" etc...:
http://www.care2.com/c2c/people/search.html?name=robert&page=584
They don't even know that they are CARE2 members of course, but who gives a shite...?

Thursday February 17, 2011, 2:32 pm
Unratified States : Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia --- do you live in one of these states? Will you help pass the ERA ratification in your state?

Saturday February 19, 2011, 3:38 pm
Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP's War on Women

1) Republicans not only want to reduce women's access to abortion care, they're actually trying to redefine rape. After a major backlash, they promised to stop. But they haven't yet. Shocker.

2) A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to "accuser." But victims of other less gendered crimes, like burglary, would remain "victims."

3) In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care. (Yep, for real.)

4) Republicans want to cut nearly a billion dollars of food and other aid to low-income pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids.

5) In Congress, Republicans have a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.

6) Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids' preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working.

7) And at the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool.

8) Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.

9) Congress just voted for a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.

10) And if that wasn't enough, Republicans are pushing to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program. (For humans. But Republican Dan Burton has a bill to provide contraception for wild horses. You can't make this stuff up).